The case for Ray Ellis at City Hall: Leadership

San Diego City Hall has made significant progress in clawing its way out of the financial morass that in its darkest days forced fire station brownouts, cut police programs, slashed hours at libraries and recreation centers, and sparked recurrent talk of municipal bankruptcy. In January, after more than a year of hard work, Mayor Jerry Sanders and the City Council finalized an agreement with employee unions on a deal cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in retiree health care costs. They also have begun, after years of council delay, to introduce city departments to competition from the private sector, saving millions more. And voters provided a huge boost in June, passing landmark pension reform.

But the financial stabilization is not yet complete and revival is anything but a certainty. The European debt crisis and the nearly stagnant U.S. economy throw a dark cloud over San Diego’s recovery, too.

The solid help of voters is needed again on Nov. 6.

At the top of the city’s ballot is, of course, the race for mayor. In Carl DeMaio and Bob Filner, the philosophical choice has rarely been so sharply defined.

Just below that is the race for the City Council’s 1st District seat, representing the coastal communities from La Jolla north to Del Mar and from Carmel Valley south to University City. It is arguably every bit as important as the mayor’s race in terms of deciding the balance of political power at City Hall and charting the course forward.

DeMaio was a leading champion of the pension reform initiative and the other fiscal reforms that are so crucial to San Diego’s resurgence. If he wins the mayor’s office, he will need a City Council majority to help him implement the voter-approved pension reform program, additional private-sector competitions with city departments and numerous other fiscal measures. By contrast, Filner is a classic tax-and-spend liberal who opposed virtually every reform. If he wins on Nov. 6, San Diego taxpayers will desperately need a conservative council majority to keep him in check.

The partisan split on the council is now even – four Democrats and four Republicans, with the balance to be determined by the outcome of the 1st District race between businessman Ray Ellis and incumbent Sherri Lightner.

Only one of them, Ellis, has the credentials and track record as a fiscal conservative that show he would be a dependable voice of reason in fostering the San Diego comeback. And only Ellis could be a dependable check and balance against any left-field initiatives floating out of a Filnerian mayor’s office.

Ellis, 54, is retired from a successful career as owner of a marketing-services company. He has loads of experience in civic affairs, having served as board chairman of the City Employees Retirement System, along with volunteer stints on the Balboa Park Conservancy, the Second Chance program for the homeless, the Voices for Children charity for foster kids, and San Diego Social Venture Partners, which helps connect volunteers with nonprofit organizations. He has big-gun endorsements to back up his resume, from Mayor Sanders and DeMaio to political independent Nathan Fletcher to business giants Irwin Jacobs, Alan Royster and Malin Burnham.